Slept in #heaven! From our hotel we walked up to the Hohenschwangau castle. I have been here before but honestly I don't remember this castle and today as we went through Neuschwanstein I didn't remember the inside. These castles had magnificent paintings on the inside, especially Hohenschwangau which are nearly all originals painted on dry plaster. These colorful and really fairytale like paintings were captivating. The swan was ever present in both castles and was the symbol of the knights that had once inhabited the castle that was present on the site before Ludwig's father Maximilian built Hohenschwangau over the ruins of the knights' Medieval castle. The current castle even has a large swan that raises its long neck with flared wings above the castle. Each turret has lovely sitting rooms or reading areas and really in every way is just beautiful. The castle is kept exactly as it was when it was inhabited.
Neuschwanstein was Ludwig's castle he built in homage to Richard Wagner a German composer, most famously known for his operas. Ludwig had become a large fan, and patron of Wagner and his castle pays homage to his many operas and is filled with paintings and decor, including a grotto, of scenes from his many operas. They have over 2000 letters that King Ludwig has written to Wagner. The castle also includes a large concert hall which was meant for Operas to be performed in. All things in the castle are fairytale like and create a fantasy world in which he seemed to want to live in and honestly as you look really was. My favorite room in the castle was his bedroom, which contains a small chapel too and the most ornate bed I have ever seen with organic looking wooden carvings that look like the tops of gothic cathedrals rising above the top of his bed. Above his bed he has a painting with stars, reminiscent of his room in his childhood castle which also had crystals that could be lit from a fire above and glow at night. It seems he truly lived and wanted to live in a fantasy world.
We had a nice walk through the woods to get to Neuschwanstein from the other castle and then following our tour we took another walk out to the Bridge which looks down on a waterfall and back at the castle. It really takes your breath away and allows you to see the castle and the surrounding landscape and appreciate the whole majestic setting it sits above and is surrounded by.
Back at our hotel we were tired. I sat down on the bed and was uploading a few pictures and just fell fast asleep. I woke up just in time to throw some clothes on and make our way up to the lake where we were having dinner. The weather has been overcast but it just adds to the whole fantasy landscape with the castles peaking out from the clouds. When we got to the restaurant it was just an idyllic setting next to the lake looking up on Hohen Castle and back on Neuschwanstein. The lake and the surrounding mountains and greenery was again out of a fairytale and simply dreamy. We had a delicious dinner and then walked around by the lake and through the small town. Now that all the tourists were gone it was fun to be able to walk around town and admire all the lovely buildings including the maypole that stands in town pointing the way to the different sites in town.
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